EMusic Turns Up Heat On Napster Users

Internet music site EMusic.com [Nasdaq: EMUS]
says about one-third of the Napster users that have been warned to stop
sharing its music have complied.

Using newly developed software, EMusic.com on Nov. 21 began sweeping
Napster files to locate its songs and notify members that they are
illegally
sharing their music and to cease the practice. "As of Thursday, we had seen
about 35,000 users, and we have currently sent notice to 1,500,"
EMusic.com's
Gene Hoffman told Newsbytes. "We sent an instant message to them and they
didn't comply."

Some have replied with messages telling EMusic.com, in no uncertain terms,
what they could do with their warning, Hoffman said.

If the user does not comply, EMusic.com then tells Napster to follow
the tenets of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and block
the offending members' accounts until the songs are removed from their
files. Hoffman said Napster, however, claims that it is not technically
feasible to block such members.

Today Napster said through a spokeswoman that it had no comment
other than to reiterate that it is in full compliance with the DMCA.

Hoffman said songs by about 5,000 of the 7,000 artists it represents are
available through the 40 million-member Napster service.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and music
publishers sued Napster for copyright infringement. Heavy metalist
Metallica
and rapper Dr. Dre filed a separate lawsuit. A federal judge ordered
Napster
to shut down in July, but an appeals court stayed that decision. A final
ruling
is pending.

Napster has said since the beginning that members using its file-sharing
service are not breaking the law.